The next big thing in natural sweeteners
The search for healthy, natural sweeteners sometimes seems to involve a whirlwind of confusing information. We’ve been hearing about stevia since 1997 -- back in the day when the FDA was actually seizing stevia products and threatening to arrest the owners of stevia companies. But today, stevia is now widely accepted as a safe, natural sweetener. That doesn't make it super popular, however: Many people complain about the aftertaste of stevia (me included), and it doesn't melt or cook like sugar does.
So the search goes on. For several years, many people in the natural health community have been turning to agave nectar, a low-glycemic sugar made from the bulbous roots of agave plants. While agave has a wonderful taste and a relatively low glycemic index, it has also been embroiled in controversy about whether it is truly "natural" or even low glycemic.
Now a new choice for a natural, wholesome sweetener emerges, and it has tremendous promise. It's called Palm Sugar.
Why palm sugar is the next big thing in natural sweeteners
Palm sugar is a nutrient-rich, low-glycemic crystalline sweetener that looks, tastes, dissolves and melts almost exactly like sugar, but it's completely natural and unrefined. It's acquired from the flowers growing high on coconut trees, which are opened to collect their liquid flower nectar. This nectar is then air-dried to form a crystalline sugar that's naturally brown in color and naturally rich in a number of key vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including potassium, zinc, iron, and vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6.
It is never refined or bleached like white sugar. So the nutrients it was made with are still there. That's rare for sweeteners, most of which are highly refined. Even stevia is highly refined in its white powder form (real stevia is a green herb).
Remarkably, even though palm sugar cooks, dissolves and melts just like regular sugar, it has a far superior taste. As Wikipedia states, "The taste of pure coconut palm sugar resembles that of brown sugar, yet with more rounded caramel and butterscotch notes, without the metallic ending flavor that brown sugar has. It has a rich flavor." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_sugar)
Palm sugar adds a special richness to almost any recipe. I've been using it, and I know raw food chefs who are thrilled about using it in raw food desserts (palm sugar is not raw, by the way, but neither is agave nectar). You can use palm sugar as a replacement for regular white sugar in any recipe. You'll get improved taste, improved nutrition and a lower overall glycemic index for the finished food.
Palm sugar is not a calorie-free sweetener. It has calories like any carbohydrate, but due to its relatively low glycemic index, its calories are absorbed into the bloodstream at a significantly slower rate than regular refined sugar. This property should be of interest to anyone who is monitoring their blood sugar levels and attempting to avoid blood sugar spikes. Palm sugar isn't medicine; it's a food with a surprisingly low GI, considering its sweet taste.
It has a glycemic index of 35. By comparison, the GI of honey is 55 - 60, and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is 62. Maltodextrin, a common powder often added to many sweeteners, has a GI of 105! At just 35, palm sugar has a glycemic index very similar to milk or cooked carrots. And yet it's a super delicious sweetener!
One disadvantage: The price
As with many healthy products, the price is higher than conventional, processed "junk" products. Highly-refined cane sugar is dirt cheap because it can be mass produced in sugar factories that churn out huge quantities of that white, nutritionally-devoid powder known as "table sugar."
But creating something healthier is more complex. Climbing coconut trees to harvest the nectar of their flowers is difficult work, and drying the liquid into crystals takes time (and patience). Palm sugar isn't fast sugar. It's slow sugar that takes time to grow, harvest, and dry. Not coincidentally, it also takes time for its complex carbohydrates to be disassembled during digestion, which is why it has a lower glycemic index. Organic palm sugar usually costs anywhere from $7 - $10 per pound in the USA.
As you know, I try to only recommend products I use myself. I've been experimenting with organic palm sugar for about three months now, and I'm really happy with the results. I also still recommend agave nectar, by the way, because it has many good properties.
Palm Sugar mixes really well with water, but it doesn't mix 100%. There are a small number of palm sugar solids that do end up at the bottom of the smoothie shaker bottle, but this is no big deal as you can just shake it again.
I personally haven't baked cookies or anything like that with the palm sugar because I don't bake cookies in the first place, so I don't have direct experience using it in baking, but I've heard reports from several others who were delighted with its properties in baking and cooking. It melts well, but doesn't burn easily. As Wikipedia says, "...it has a very low melt temperature and an extremely high burn temperature. This makes it a suitable sweetener for confectioners."
The future of palm sugar
With everything I've learned about palm sugar over the last several months, I expect this to become the next "big thing" in natural, organic sweeteners. Before too long, we'll begin to see it in health food bars and superfood smoothies.
I think you'll really like this natural, nutrient-rich organic sweetener. It can be purchased at health related stores or on the internet. Be sure to order it from a reputable seller if it is from the internet. By all means, give palm sugar a try and let me know what you think. It is just nice to have good tasting natural sweeteners available that you can feel good about using. If you prefer a white sugar type sweetener for certain foods, you can use Xylitol which is what I do when I do not want a brown sugar flavor in my food or drink.
Lies about statin drugs finally exposed in British Medical Journal
To hear Big Pharma tell it, statin drugs are "miracle" medicines that have prevented millions of heart attacks and strokes. But a recent study published in the British Medical Journal tells a completely different story: For every heart attack prevented by the drug, two or more people suffered liver damage, kidney failure, cataracts or extreme muscle weakness as a result of taking the drug.
Statin drugs, in other words, harm far more people than they help.
Julia Hippisley-Cox and Carol Coupland led the study which examined data from over two million patients, including over 225,000 patients who were new statin drug users. They found that for every 10,000 women being treated with statins, there were only 271 fewer cases of heart disease.
And yet, at the same time, the statin drugs caused 74 cases of liver damage, 23 cases of acute kidney failure, 39 cases of extreme muscle weakness and 307 cases of cataracts.
Statin drugs, in other words, helped 271 people but harmed 443 people. This demonstrates how they are wreaking havoc with the health of those who take them, causing damage that far outweighs any benefit they might offer.
Big Pharma's highly deceptive advertising implies that statin drugs help everyone who takes them. So if 10,000 people took the drugs, we're promised, heart attacks would be prevented in all 10,000 people. That's the implied message in the drug ads, anyway.
But this is just a wild exaggeration and distortion of the facts. Most drugs don't work on most people, and statin drugs only "work" on about 2.7% of those who take them. Yet they cause serious damage in about 4.4% of those who take them.
So if you take statin drugs, your odds of benefiting from them is less than 3 out of 100. But your odds of being harmed by them are more than 4 out of 100. For 96 out of 100 people, statin drugs do nothing except make the drug companies rich and pollute the waterways every time you flush the toilet.
Vitamin D more effective than vaccines at preventing flu infections
A vitamin D supplement is more effective at reducing the risk of flu infection than vaccines or antiviral drugs, according to a study conducted by researchers from Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers conducted the double-blind, randomized study on 354 children between the ages of six and 15 during the winter of 2008-2009. Half the children were assigned to take a daily supplement of 1,200 IU of vitamin D, while the other half were given a placebo pill.
After one month, influenza infection rates in the two groups remained the same. By the second month, however, participants in the vitamin D group were 50 percent less likely to become infected than participants in the control group. This drop in infection rate corresponded with an increase in vitamin D blood levels.
In contrast, antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir and zanamivir reduced rates of infection by only 8 percent. Even vaccines had success rates significantly lower than the 50 percent achieved by vitamin D.
When the analysis excluded children who were being given vitamin D supplements at home, supplementation was found to reduce the risk of infection by 67 percent. Because vitamin D is an essential nutrient, it poses no side effects if given in appropriate doses. In contrast, both drugs and vaccines can produce negative side effects in many people.
In addition, higher vitamin D levels lead to stronger bones and teeth, a more well-regulated immune system, and an overall lower risk of infection, heart disease, cancer and autoimmune disorders.
Vitamin D is synthesized naturally by the body upon exposure to sunlight, but a decrease in time spent outdoors plus growing use of sunscreen due to skin cancer fears has contributed to widespread deficiency. Vitamin D levels tend to hit their lowest point in most people during the winter, when the sun is at its weakest. This corresponds with the time period during which flu infections peak.
Now is the time to begin taking a vitamin D supplement for the winter season now that the sun is out much less these days. Use a supplement that has 2,000 to 5,000 IU for best results.
Until next time, stay health and happy,
JD Roma
The information on this blog is provided for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, and medical advice and services are not being offered. If you have, or suspect you have, a health problem you should consult your physician (preferably a Naturopath).
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